REDMOND — Underneath the flagpole outside the Redmond Veterans of Foreign Wars post is a new cement fire pit where old American flags can be disposed of respectfully.

For years, the VFW Post 4108 in Redmond has collected tattered and worn American flags from the public. Then, VFW members would properly dispose of them at their own homes or at a funeral home’s crematory.

The fire pit, built as an Eagle Scout project by a Redmond Boy Scout, will allow the local VFW to hold formal ceremonies to retire old flags.

Each ceremony is a solemn occasion that begins with carefully unfolding the flag.

“It gets one last Pledge of Allegiance,” said Jeff Chappell, house committee chair of the Redmond VFW.

And then, the flag is placed in the fire.

A dedication of the flag retirement pit is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday — Veterans Day. The formal setting for disposing an American flag is a first for Central Oregon, according to the Redmond VFW.

“We wanted something that was ceremonial,” said Dennis Guthrie, house committee member of the Redmond VFW. “It’s been needed for a long time.”

It is legal for anyone to burn an American flag for any reason. The Redmond VFW believes the flag deserves to be retired in an honorable way.

The U.S. flag code says when a flag is no longer fit for display, it should be “destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.” The Boy Scouts of America, the military and veterans groups such as the VFW, traditionally hold ceremonies to dispose of the flag, following that code.

“It represents not only the United States, but all the freedoms that we have,” Guthrie said. “It represents Americans who have died for this country in many wars. Over a million men and women have died with that flag on their coffin.”

Guthrie estimates the Redmond VFW has hundreds of old flags waiting to be retired. The flags are being kept in bags inside the VFW building. The public is welcome to donate old flags, he said.

Christopher Mathis, 17, a senior at Ridgeview High School and Boy Scout in Redmond’s Troop 27, started researching Eagle Scout projects two years ago and contacted the Redmond VFW.

“I was informed that they have hundreds of flags they have nowhere to retire,” Mathis said. “I decided to do that for my project.”

Mathis started work on his Eagle Scout project earlier this year and gathered $4,000 in donated materials and work time to complete the flag retirement pit.

“I wanted a project that was going to last and mean a lot to a lot of people,” he said.

Mathis and other members of Troop 27 will be at the dedication ceremony Sunday and will retire a flag that flew above the Redmond VFW for many years.

Mathis and other troop members gathered Wednesday evening to practice the flag-retiring ceremony. They unfolded old flags, recited the Pledge of Allegiance and dropped the flags in the flames.

Shane Mathis, Scout leader of Troop 27 and Christopher Mathis’ father, watched Wednesday as his son and the other Scouts practiced retiring the flags.

The Boy Scouts often retire flags at gatherings during the year, and now, they have a place devoted to honoring the flags.

“I can’t hardly watch one of these ceremonies without getting a little teary eyed,” Shane Mathis said. “It’s really special to me.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, kspurr@bendbulletin.com